On this day in 1960, the French-Algerian writer Albert Camus died in a car accident at age 46. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature only three years before “for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times”.

Camus is well known for his essay collections, such as “The Myth of Sisyphus”, and his novels “The Fall” and “The Stranger”. His work reflected his belief in the philosophical concept of “the absurd.” As an extension of existentialism, it maintained that human beings innately search for meaning in the universe but will never find any (hence, their search is “absurd”).

Don’t let that idea turn you away from Camus’ work. He believed that if we accept this fact, we are free to live our lives to the fullest and can find happiness.